NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) – House Bill 822 allowed New Hanover County Schools to pioneer a new dropout recovery program, which now has Cape Fear Community College concerned.
The Dropout Recovery Pilot Program was co-sponsored by Representative Susi Hamilton in an effort to reach the segment of students who had already separated from the school system.
NHCS would put out a request-for-proposal for an outside agency (profit or non-profit) to run a non-traditional diploma-based program for dropouts. Students would be enrolled with the school system and would no longer be labeled dropouts, thereby improving the school system's rate.
Cape Fear Community College says they've been offering the same program for decades. The college is asking why tax payers should have to pay for two different programs now.
According to the college, hundreds of high school dropouts are aided by the Adult High School program every year.
Both NHCS' program and CFCC's are free to students.
Adult High School awards a diploma by the New Hanover or Pender Schools, signed by the respective Superintendent.
It takes a student anywhere from nine weeks to two years to earn the 21 credits needed to graduate. The curriculum is modeled after a traditional high school program and follows the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Students meet in the evening to allow for flexible scheduling around work and children.
Adult High School is a separate offering from the G.E.D. course of study.
In an email to Superintendent Dr. Tim Markley, CFCC President Eric McKeithan challenged the school system's new program as a "direct duplication of the highly effective Adult high School programs in community colleges."
His concerned centered of the reclassification of dropouts in the school systems rate.
If a dropout enrolls in CFCC's program, they are still considered a dropout in the school system. However, according to the legislation, if a student enrolls in the school program, they are no longer labeled a dropout.
McKeithan's email claims that public schools will continue to receive full funding for each recovered dropout and will pay about 95% of that to the organization contracted to run the program. He writes that, "According to per-student allocations from the state, it thus appears that each recovered dropout in this new alternative program will cost the state about twice what would have been the case…in the local community college's existing AHS program."
McKeithan also expressed concern over the General Assembly not bringing community colleges to the table while they were drafting the bill. He says he first found out about it's passage after reading a news report.
While WECT was unable to reach Superintendent Markley on Thursday (due to his vacation), Markley did respond to McKeithan's email.
Markley reassured that his program would target 16-21 year olds and was not a duplication.
He noted that in hindsight, representation from the community colleges would have been beneficial and there is room for their contribution as the program develops.
Copyright 2011 WECT. All rights reserved.
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2012 WorldNow and WECT, a Raycom Media Station.
